


Roommates

by darylvdixon



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: College!AU, Cute, F/M, Fluff, Slow Burn, theyre idiots in love from the get go lets be honest, theyre just too cute right?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-13
Updated: 2020-12-13
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:41:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28051827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darylvdixon/pseuds/darylvdixon
Summary: Julie and Luke meet at college - it’s love at first sight but neither want to make a move and chance ruining their friendship and room arrangement
Relationships: Julie Molina/Luke Patterson
Comments: 10
Kudos: 188





	Roommates

**Author's Note:**

> my first time writing for juke - originally posted to my tumblr account @charliegillespe

Luke was sure he had never felt excitement quite like this before. Sure he got excited when playing a gig or basically every time he practiced, but this was different. Picking up a guitar was bouncy adrenalin and electricity, this was like vibrating with hope and pride. He had done it, he had gotten into college - something most people thought wasn’t possible. Now he was free and independent, he could do whatever he wanted, he was practically an adult. He pinballed down the hallway, leaving his friends at their rooms and hurriedly searching for his own. He was sure even a bad roommate wouldn’t be able to dampen his spirits. He stops in front of room 205, double checking on the paper he had been given and once certain this was his room he placed the key in the lock and entered his new home for the first time.

His face was taken over with a frown, one of amusement more than annoyance, the sight in the room as not as he had expected. He had anticipated two beds, a couple desks, a wardrobe, maybe a roommate unpacking his stuff. The furniture was as expected, but both beds were littered with clothes and possessions, a suitcase laying open and half unpacked on one.

“Oh my god!” A female voice interrupts his assessment of the room, “I was hoping you wouldn’t be here yet.” She chews on her lower lip as she looks around at the mess she had made, “I swear I’m not usually this messy, I just packed a lot of stuff…A lot of stuff.” She repeated herself more quietly as she looks from the mess and back up to the cute boy in the doorway.

“It’s cool.” Luke finally shrugs, the mess suddenly forgotten as his struggles to pull his eyes away from the girl in front of him, “I’m Luke, by the way.” He holds out a hand and she surges forward to take it in hers.

“Julie.” She smiles, she had the kind of smile that was contagious, it caught onto Luke instantly and his face lit up, her hand felt soft in his own and he almost didn’t want to let go.

“Here.” The girl - Julie - quickly grabs her clothes off the second bed, throwing them into her opened suitcase, “I already chose a bed, I hope you don’t mind.”

“Not at all.” Luke says as he places his bags down onto the bed which was to be his, “Are you sure there’s room to put all that.” He chuckles watching her cram jumpers into an already full drawer.

“Not at all.” Julie huffs, hands on her hips as she turns around, blowing a piece of hair out of her face, “But I gotta make it fit.”

Luke chuckles and turns to his own bag, unzipping it and starting to pull out his things. Lucky for the girl he hadn’t brought much stuff, he knew he wouldn’t need much room so offered some of his storage space to her, which she was more than happy to accept. Luke had never imagined he would be sharing rooms with a girl, not that he minded at all - in a completely non creepy way. Julie seemed cool and energetic like himself, he was already certain they would get along like a house on fire and couldn’t wait to introduce her to his friends. It also didn’t hurt that she was one of if not the most gorgeous girl he had ever laid eyes on, he wouldn’t make a move due to the room situation but it wouldn’t hurt anyone for him to admire her from afar.

They spent their time unpacking getting to know each other. He found out that she was in the music program like himself, and that she also enjoyed horror movies, karaoke and onion rings. He was sure this girl couldn’t get anymore perfect if she tried and he thanked the heavens that they had placed him in a room with her.

“So are you here alone?” Julie asks, taking a seat cross legged in the middle of her bed once all her belongings were in their new homes, “I came here with my best friend, she’s down the hall. She’s pretty bummed that we didn’t get to share but at least this way we get to meet new people.” She shrugs.

“That’s cool, I came with my friends too.” He falls back onto his bed, leaning against the headboard and kicking his legs out in front of him, “They’re also down the hall.” He points in the opposite direction to the way she had, “Two of them are sharing somehow, Alex and I got split up but like you said, it’s the perfect opportunity to meet new people.”

“I love my best friend but I think if we shared a room it would be a disaster. You saw how many clothes I have, she has double that, maybe even triple!” She laughs, “She’s a style icon.” she adds using her friends own words.

“So there’s basically two of you?” Luke chuckles, “I’m excited to meet her, if she’s anything like you she’ll be great.”

“Wow, we’ve only just met and you’re already over there with the flattery!” Julie teases, “But really, I’m excited to meet your friends too, they sound great. I mean, Reggie sounds a little…odd, but still great.” She chuckles, “Oh! We should plan a night to hang out before lessons start! Like go for a meal or have a movie night or something.”

“Actually that’s a great idea!” Luke agrees sitting up, “I’m gonna go see how they’re settling in, I’ll pitch the idea and see when you want to do it.” He jumps off the bed and heads to the door.

“I best go see what Flynn’s up to before she yells at me for not coming to hang out quick enough.” Julie rolls her eyes but the smile on her face shows fondness.

The pair say their goodbyes and walk opposite ways down the hallway. Luke knocks on the door which he had left Reggie and Bobby at, happy to see that Alex was already sitting inside on the edge of one of their beds.

“Hey guys, how’s the rooms? How’s the roomie, Alex?” He asks, helping himself to one of the cans of drink on Bobby’s side table.

Alex’s grin reaches from ear to ear, “I have the best roommate ever and I think I’m in love.” Alex replies with a content sigh.

“I do not want to hear this story again.” Bobby shakes his head and takes the can from Luke’s hand, taking a sip as he shoots his fellow guitarist a glare, “How’s your roommate?”

“Sorry to tell you this dude, but I think I have the best roommate,” He chuckles, “Not only is she gorgeous, but she’s seriously so cool. She sings and plays piano and we’re into all the same stuff.”

“Woah wait!” Reggie launches himself up from where he had been laying across his bed, “You’re rooming with a girl?!”

Luke chuckles at his friend’s shocked expression, “Yeah man! Apparently they do that here! She didn’t even seem surprised she was sharing it with a guy.”

“I’m gonna go see if it’s too late to switch!” He makes a mad dash towards the door and Bobby grabs a hold of the back of his shirt.

“Don’t even think about it.” he pushes his friend back into the room, “Besides, with your luck you’ll probably end up with the worst roommate ever. A star wars fan or something.”

“There is nothing wrong with star wars!” Reggie defends with a pout, “You’re just too sour to admit you like it.”

Bobby rolls his eyes, an amused smile on his face, “If that’s what helps you sleep at night man.” He shakes his head and plops down into the chair at his desk, “So, what’s on the agenda?”

“Well actually, me and Julie were thinking we could all hang out, her friends here too.” Luke bounces on his heels as he relays the plan.

“Oooh, Julie!” Reggie grins sitting back down on his bed.

Luke picks up the nearest item, a toothbrush, and throws it at his friend, laughing as it bounces off the side of his head.

“Hey! That wasn’t very - Oh, I was looking for this! Thanks!” He smiles at the object and places it on his bedside table.

Alex and Luke share a look as Bobby lets out a groan, “Maybe I will let him switch rooms.”

“Anyway,” Luke drags out the word and bounces into the room, “We were thinking we could go out for food or something, before lessons start. You guys will seriously love her.”

“I think you love her.” Alex comments, a knowing smile on his face as Luke leans over to whack him across the back of the head.

“I only just met her!” He complains.

“Yeah, but you love her.” Reggie joins in.

Further down the hallway Julie is being subjected to the same levels of teasing from the girl she calls her best friend.

“Okay so wait, tell me again.” Flynn demands as she paces in front of her friend who was perched on the edge of her bed.

“I’m not telling you again!” Julie laughs, “Do you want to hang out with them or not.”

Flynn shoots her a glare before stopping her pacing and smiling, “Okay, fine. But only so I can see if this guy is good enough for you.”

Julie rolls her eyes, “That is not the only reason! Beside’s, it doesn’t matter anyway. Even if you are right, which I’m not saying you are!” She adds as Flynn grins wider at her, “It’s not like anything could happen. We share a room, could you imagine that in a break up? That’s too much to risk.”

Flynn sighs, she knows her friend is right, but that doesn’t mean she won’t continue teasing her about her ‘super cute roommate’ forever. As soon as Julie had reached her friend’s room she had started gushing about how cute he was, how much alike her he was and how much she couldn’t wait for her friend to meet him. Flynn knew when her friend had a crush, and boy did this girl have a crush on Luke. Even if she wouldn’t admit to it.

“So tomorrow night?” Julie confirms as she hovers in her friend’s doorway.

“Yes! Now go, flirt, have fun.” Flynn shoos her from her room, poking her head out the door to watch her friend walk away, “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!” She calls, slamming the door before she could reply.

Julie whips around, mouth open ready to shout back when she hears the slam of the door. She just smiles to herself and shakes her head, hating how well Flynn could read her. So maybe she did have a little crush on Luke, but she was sure it was just because he was cute. Once they got to know each other properly and became friends it would fade away into nothing. Besides that, she meant it when she told Flynn it could never happen. There was too much to risk. And would a cute boy like Luke like her back? Not a chance. She entered her new room, humming to herself as she thought about a messy head of hair, surprised to see sed head of hair back on his bed.

“Oh, I didn’t think you’d be back.” she comments as she shuts the door behind herself.

“Is that a problem?” Luke asks, looking up from the notebook in front of him with a slight smirk.

“No problem,” Julie shakes her head, “Flynn is down to meet up. We were thinking tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow works fine for me and the guys.” Luke agrees, scribbling something else in his book before closing it and tucking it under his pillow.

“Songs?” Julie asks and Luke nods his head.

“No snooping!” He warns her with a pointed finger and a chuckle.

Julie holds up her hands as she walks around her bed, “Wasn’t thinking about it.” She defends herself.

They spend the rest of the night talking, about anything they can think of. Homelife, Julie talks about her mum, her dad and her little brother, throwing in little bits about her aunt. Luke tells her about his rocky relationship with his parents, something he doesn’t usually like to talk about. Julie just felt like someone he could confide in. Like she would understand without ever judging. They talked about music, what they liked to listen to, what they liked to play. Luke couldn’t help but smile and feel a little sad when Julie spoke about how she used to write songs with her mum. She promised to play him one sometime if he showed her one of his which he instantly agreed to.

By the time they stopped talking and called it a night it was well past a normal bedtime hour. Luke was certain he’d never talked to someone that much when he had just met them. He went to sleep that night feeling like the luckiest guy around. The next couple years were going to be some of the best of his life.

Luke spent the next day in his room finishing up some songs he had been working on before the trip up to college. Julie had gone to help Flynn unpack - apparently the girl was struggling to find places to store her masses of clothes and shoes. The girl returned in the afternoon to find Luke in the exact same spot she had left him in at lunchtime.

“Have you not moved once?” Julie laughs, hanging her jacket up on the back of the door.

“Uh, not really.” Luke replies. He looks up from his writing, watching the girl tie her hair into a quick ponytail at the back of her head before sitting down at her desk.

“Well you best make a move now, we’re meeting for dinner in an hour.” Julie informs him, emptying her makeup bag onto the desk and pulling her small mirror closer for her to see.

“Yeah, it wont take me long to get ready.” Luke replies, dragging his eyes away from the girl and back to his book, “I’ve almost finished this last bit.”

Julie hums in reply, tilting her head back as she applied a fresh coat of mascara to her lashes. Once Luke had finished scribbling - planning on revisiting it the next day to make any edits with a fresh head - he looked up and watched Julie getting ready. He was mesmerized by her, sitting at her desk, humming along to a tune in her head as she applied make up and finally brushed out her hair with her fingers.

“You know, all this time you’ve sat watching me you could have been ready by now.” She turns to him, a smug smirk appearing on her lips as he looks away quickly, a pink blush rushing to his cheeks.

“I wasn’t watching you, I was just,” He thought for a second before chuckling, “Watching you.” He admits.

“I know, I could see you in my mirror,” She teases, “Learning how to apply eyeshadows?”

“Something like that.” Luke grins, the blush insistent on staying on his face as he climbs off of his bed to finally get changed and ready.

After he was ready - after Julie complaining the whole time about how long it was taking when he promised he would be quick - they made their way out into the hallway to meet their friends. Introductions were quick and conversation was instantly flowing as they made their way out of the building and towards their chosen restaurant. Alex had invited along his roommate Willie who he was already infatuated with. Willie already seemed to notice that Alex was into him and seemed to return the feelings, joking around with each other on the walk like they were in their own little bubble.

Luke couldn’t have been more happy for his friends. Alex who was anxious about this whole thing, worrying about who he would be rooming with and if they would be okay with him being gay, seemed pretty happy with his new set up. Bobby and Reggie were bickering as usual, the playful arguing between the two nothing out of the ordinary. Luke walked at the back of the group with Julie and Flynn, listening to the two girls - mostly Flynn - chatting away.

He already felt perfectly at home, more comfortable in his surroundings than he had felt in a long time. He hadn’t been worried about his old friends getting along with his new one, but he was still grateful that there was no awkwardness. It felt like they were already well onto their way in being their own little family and it sparked a warmness inside Luke which he hadn’t imagined. They boys had been his main family for a long time now and he was excited to invite more people into that circle. Luke wasn’t usually a quiet person, but he was enjoying taking a step back for once watching his friends goofing around.

Once inside the restaurant Luke placed himself between Reggie and Bobby, half to stop the arguing for an hour or two and half because Julie had sat herself on the opposite side right in front of him.

“Are we getting starters? Please tell me we’re getting starters.” Reggie grabs up a menu the minute he hits his seat, opening it up and scanning the options.

“We can get starters.” Luke laughs, picking up two menus and handing one over to Julie.

After everyone had ordered and drinks had arrived the conversation soon turned to music, a usual topic for him and his friends. Flynn was telling them all about Double Trouble, which Julie kept reminding her was not their band name. And Reggie jumped straight in to tell everyone about Sunset Curve.

“Do you think we should scout the area? See where we can get gigs?” Bobby suggests.

“Definitely!” Flynn beams, “I’m a good manager, I’ll get us all gigs.” She throws her hair over her shoulder as she talks, a proud look on her face, “I booked all our gigs back home.”

“Queen of marketing.” Julie agrees pointing a thumb over to her friend.

The conversations flow through the whole meal, never a quiet moment even when they were all stuffing their faces. It was amazing how a group of people could all be so different yet so similar at the same time. Luke had to wonder if they had met under different circumstances if they would all still be friends, he liked to think they would.

After dinner they walked to the ice cream parlour down the street and then made their way around the small town looking for bars and venues. Flynn was typing away notes on her phone about each place they stopped to examine, searching for phone numbers and emails she could use to book them gigs. As the evening wore on the group slowly began splitting up, Willie and Alex going off so Willie could show him some skating tricks as promised.

“Bobby and I were thinking we should go bowling! There’s an alley the other side of town that looks good.” Reggie explains.

“Bowling?” Luke pulls a face, “I hate bowling.”

“You hate bowling?” Flynn exclaims, “Why don’t you like fun? I’m in, I’m going to thrash both of you.” She points to the boys, “Julie?”

“I’m good.” Julie laughs, “You go have fun, and you better win!”

“Oh, I will.” She smirks before hurrying off with the guys leaving just the two of them behind.

“You hate bowling?” Julie asks him.

“Yeah, it’s so boring!” He complains, “You throw a ball, knock over some pins, then sit for ten minutes waiting for another go. No thanks.”

Julie laughs and shakes her head, “Flynn’s right, you don’t like fun.”

“Hey I like fun, okay!” Luke defends himself, “That’s just not fun, unless you’re five or Reggie.”

“Whatever,” Julie shrugs, “So what should we do for the rest of the evening?”

Luke thinks for a moment before turning to her with a smile, “We could show each other those songs we promised?”

“Okay!” Julie beams, “But you’re going first.”

She walks off ahead of him back to their dorms, throwing a smile over her shoulder as he follows on behind. Inside their room Julie pulls out her keyboard and sets it on the desk ready to perform, sitting in her chair and waiting impatiently as Luke tunes his guitar.

“C’mon!” She moans, “It sounds fine, just play something!”

“It sounds fine?” Luke laughs, “It’s so out of tune! Do you even play guitar?”

“No, but I know what one sounds like.” She rolls her eyes.

Luke finishes up tuning it, opening his notebook onto one of the new songs he had been writing, “Okay, this isn’t planned to be an acoustic song and I haven’t really worked out a solid melody yet, but I think I can make it work. It’s called Bright.”

Julie nods her head, crossing one leg over the other and resting her hands on her knees as he began to play a few chords. He played through the song, making up the melody for the lyrics as he went along and making mental notes of the bits he liked. He didn’t look up while singing because he was nervous. Luke Patterson was actually nervous about performing for the first time in his life. But then again, he had never performed to just one pretty girl before who was also a musician, he felt more vulnerable than he ever had before. Like he was laying his soul bare for her to see and judge. It was an exhilarating feeling, he loved it no matter how anxious he was feeling.

He looked up slowly as he strummed the last chord, Julie was staring at him, a smile on her lips. She found that watching him was one of the best things she had seen, she loved when someone got lost in the music they were playing and Luke did just that. His voice was unique, not quite how she expected him to sound but she loved it, it sent tingles through her body and made butterflies erupt in her stomach.

“That was,” She breathes out, trying to think of a word good enough to explain how she felt, “I don’t even have words. That was amazing. Your voice is beautiful and those lyrics, wow, Luke that song is seriously amazing.”

Luke beams at her, the nervousness in his system being stamped out by her compliments and replaced with elation. He places his guitar at the side of his bed and brings his legs up to sit cross legged on his comforter.

“Thanks! Like I said, it’s just rough at the moment.” He rubs the back of his neck, not being able to find the words to express how he felt about her complimenting him.

“Well if that was rough you’re making me feel really bad about mine.” She half jokes.

“Oh come on, I bet yours is amazing, let me hear it!” He places his elbows on his knees and his chin in his hands, smiling over at her in anticipation.

“Okay,” She stretches her arms in front of her, nodding her head once, “I’m kind of cheating, this is one my mum wrote for me, but it’s one of my favourites. Remember that song I said I found on the piano after she…” She trails off and Luke nods his head to show he remembered, “Well this is it. It’s called Wake Up.”

Luke grins as she turns to her keyboard, a little sad that he wouldn’t get to watch her face as she sang. Her fingers touched the keys and the room was filled with the sweet sound of her playing, soon accompanied by her voice. Luke was instantly taken aback by the sheer power this girl had inside of her. He could tell she was feeling every word that left her lips, her head tilted back at points as she let the music wash over her. He almost didn’t notice when she had finished, too lost in his trance to realise she had turned to face him.

“Well?” She asks, lower lip between her teeth, a little nervous that he had yet to say anything.

“Wow.” Was all he managed out in a breathy voice.

Julie blushes and lowers her head, a soft laugh leaving her lips. Luke pulls himself together and sits up again, shaking off the feeling of floating and situating himself back in the moment, “Julie, that was incredible!” He jumps off his bed, arms and hands emphasising his emotions, “That was…I can’t even describe it! You have a talent, a real talent, I’ve never heard someone sing like that. It was…mesmerising.”

“Stop!” Julie turns and buries her face in her hands, shoulders shaking a little as she giggled, “Stop, you’re making me flustered!”

“I won’t stop!” Luke bounces towards her, “You need to know how insanely talented you are. I’m gonna tell you every day for the rest of your life.”

“We’re gonna be friends for the rest of our lives?” She teases, trying to change the topic of conversation.

“Well I hope so.” Luke says as he sits back down again, “I’d be pretty sad if we weren’t. I’m gonna be there when you take over the world with your voice.”

Julie laughs again, moving to sit on her bed facing Luke, “Well I’d be happy to have you there. You can open for me.”

Luke knows that was meant to tease him but he just smiled and nodded, “It would be an honour.”

“Alright, okay, enough of the flattery! If you carry on, my head might get to the same size as yours.” She laughs.

“What’s that supposed to mean?!” Luke looks at her feigning shock.

“Oh c’mon, Mr ‘Sunset Curve are the best band on the planet’, and Sir ‘I’m the best rockstar this world will ever know.’” She raises her brows at him.

Luke looks at her for a moment, a genuine smile on his face before he holds his hands up, “Okay, I may have said that.” he agrees.

“May have? You said that like a half hour ago!” Julie throws a pillow at him before pulling her legs up under herself.

“Alright! But someone has to praise me; it may as well be myself.” He grins, throwing the pillow back over to her.

She leans over, picking the tv remote off her bedside table and chucks it over to him, “You choose the movie, I’m going to put joggers on.” She hops off the bed, picking up some comfy clothes on her way to the bathroom.

Luke quickly gets changed himself and lays back on his bed, flicking through the movies on netflix for something to watch. He goes straight to the horror section, skimming over the selection before landing on Dead Silence.

“Ever seen this one?” He asks, pointing the remote at the tv as Julie walks back into the room.

“Is that a puppet?” She frowns.

“It’s a ventriloquist doll.” Luke rolls his eyes, “See the mouth?”

“Sounds creepy, put it on.” She throws her clothes into her hamper and crawls under her covers, pulling them up to her chin ready to watch the movie.

“Is that so you can hide quickly?” He teases at how she was tucked away.

“Shut up and play the damn movie.” she glares over at him playfully.

Luke chuckles and hits play, his eyes moving between the screen and the girl throughout the movie.

The following months were extremely busy for the group of friends. Between balancing school, homework, hang outs and practice it was hard for any of them to find time to themselves. It was exhausting and Luke was looking forward to the weeks off of school that came with the winter break. He hadn’t planned on going home over the holidays, perfectly fine with staying by himself in the halls. His rocky relationship with his parents had only worsened while he was away, neither of them liking the fact that he was studying music instead of something ‘useful’ as they put it.

As the last classes of the year rolled around Luke was finding it increasingly hard to stay focused. He had never been good at school even if it was a subject he liked. He found it hard to stay focused on one thing, especially if it wasn’t something of his choosing like the current lessons. He couldn’t comprehend why he needed to learn about classical music in order to be a rockstar. Sure, he appreciated the art form, he enjoyed any sorts of music. But that didn’t mean he wanted to study it nor write a thesis on the matter.

It also didn’t help that he couldn’t get a certain dark haired girl out of his mind. The hopes of his little crush on Julie fading as time went on were futile, his infatuation with the girl only growing the more he got to know her. She wasn’t just a pretty, no, beautiful face. She was talented, caring, smart, funny, everything you could ever want in a person all wrapped up in one. That made it increasingly hard for him to forget his growing feelings and focus on her as being nothing more than a friend. Sure he thought that maybe she flirted with him at times, but she shared the same teasing nature with Reggie and Alex too, Flynn even, so he convinced himself it meant nothing.

So he made a vow with himself to never tell the girl how he felt, even if it would break his heart the last thing he wanted to do was make her feel uncomfortable - which confessing his feelings would surely do.

Once his last lecture of the year was over he slammed his books shut, shoving them into the bottom of his backpack where they would stay until the new year. Tonight was the last night they were all going to be here together. Reggie, against his best wishes, was going home for the holidays much like Bobby, Flynn and Julie. Alex was going to be spending it with Willie’s family, they had been dating for two months now. Luke was the only one going to be left behind, and despite all of his friends begging them to go back with one of them, he declined every invite. He’d rather be alone than invade anyone’s time with their families. Besides, it would give him plenty of time to work on new songs for the album he and the guys were planning. He was sure by the time they all returned he would have at least half of the songs ready to rehearse.

The group had planned to go out that night for a little holiday celebration of their own. Flynn and Julie had found a karaoke bar on the other side of town which they had been dying to show the guys, so tonight seemed like the perfect opportunity to go. Luke flew into his room, throwing his bag into a corner to be forgotten about.

“That doesn’t look like packing.” Luke frowns as Julie sits on her bed, her laptop open in front of her and her glasses pushed up on her nose.

She looks up at the sound of his voice, half closing the laptop as she moves her glasses to rest on top of her head, “Oh, change of plans, I’m not going home.”

Luke’s frown only deepens as he pulls his beanie hat off his head and throws it onto his bed, “How come? You were excited to see your family.”

“I know,” Julie replies, “But they’re visiting other relatives for the holidays and it’s a pretty long drive from here, so I said I’d go up for the new year instead.”

“Oh, right. Well I’m sorry, I know how excited you were to go home.” Luke offers a small smile.

Julie quickly waves him away with her hand, “Don’t it’s fine, I’m still getting to go home just…later.” She smiles, “I’m sorry for you, you’re gonna have to put up with me for longer.”

Luke laughs, kicking his shoes off and sitting down on his bed, “I’m sure I can cope with that.”

“Are you ready for karaoke tonight?” She asks, finally shutting her laptop completely and moving it to the side, “Flynn hasn’t shut up about it all day.”

“Yeah, I can’t wait to show you all up.” He laughs.

That night the karaoke bar was packed, mosty with students from their college. The group each had a turn on the stage while rounds of drinks kept flowing. As the night wore on the group got increasingly intoxicated, their fake ID’s which they didn’t often use finally coming in handy.

“Oh my god!” Flynn slaps her hands down onto the table gaining everyone’s attention, “You two,” She points a finger at Luke and then Julie, “Duet, now!”

“What?” Julie laughs, “Noooo, c’mon no one else has done a duet!”

“Yeah! If anyone’s dueting it’s you and Reggie, I’m down for some country rap.” Luke jokes.

“No.” Flynn points another finger at him, “I’ve been dying to hear you sing together. How many times have I said your voices would fit perfectly together? Thousands! Now get up there and sing!” she points to the stage dramatically.

Luke and Julie both try and protest but their friends all quickly join in on Flynn’s side.

“I would love to see a duet.” Willie agrees with nods from the group, “C’mon! What’s there to be scared of?”

“We’re not scared!” Luke defends, though on the inside he may have been a little petrified.

It was hard enough hiding his feelings for Julie on the best of days, but singing with her? On stage? Being that close to her while performing, having her look into his eyes and sing? He was sure he would spontaneously combust which would not be a pretty sight for anyone.

“You’re chickens.” Bobby decides, “Both of you. How about you just admit you’re in love and get up there and sing about it.”

“What?” Luke sputters while Julie looks on wide eyed, “We’re not - we are not - I am not - We’re not in love!” He finally blurts, “Fine, you want a show, we’ll give you a show.” he stands up from the table, his competitive nature and the alcohol getting the better of him.

“We will?” Julie asks before standing up to join him, “Yeah! We will! You just sit and watch.” She points around the table before the pair march off to choose a song.

“I mean, it will be fun.” She agrees with a shrug as they look through the song book, “We would do a christmas song?” She suggests.

“What, like fairytale of new york so I can insult you?” He chuckles, “Maybe not.”

“Something from a musical?” she points to a couple songs from the likes of high school musical and chicago.”

Luke shakes his head at that idea too before finally spotting a good song. “That one!” They both exclaim pointing to the song at the same time.

“Hm, I never took you for a dirty dancing fan.” Julie muses as she looks up at him.

“Are you kidding? I love that movie.” He laughs.

With their song chosen they make their way onto the stage, each picking up a mic as the opening notes to Time of my Life plays out, cheers erupting from their friends at their choice of a love song.

They start off singing on their own sides of the stage, sharing the occasional glance. But when the song really kicked in they met in the middle, Luke’s mic forgotten at his side as he shared Julies. They dance around the stage, singing to each other like they were the only two people left in the world, the crowd and bar around them completely forgotten. He got lost so easily in her eyes, like nothing else mattered when he was staring into them. By the end of the song he stepped back, letting Julie take the last notes as he held her gaze, her words sung to him and him only.

They were finally brought back to reality at the sound of cheering around them, both of them tearing their gaze away and back out to the room. Flynn was jumping up and down clapping while his friends banged loudly on the table trying to create the most noise in the place.

“That was amazing guys.” The DJ comments as they hand their mics back, “Cute couple.”

“Oh we’re not a…” Julie trials off with a shrug as the man walks away, Luke shares a nervous laugh with her as they make their way back to the table.

“That was pure fire!” Flynn jumps up at them.

“The chemistry was just oozing out!” Reggie comments earning strange looks from the pair.

“We asked him not to use that word.” Alex sighs, “But he’s right. It was intense.”

“It was just karaoke guys.” Luke rolls his eyes as he takes his seat, “Nothing to write home about.”

“Yeah, you wanted a love song, we gave you a love song.” Julie comments, sitting beside Luke and grabbing her drink.

“Whatever guys, keep denying all you want. We’ll be playing at your wedding one day.” Alex laughs, ignoring the burning faces of his friends as he grabs Willie’s hand, “Anyway, we better get going. Early flight in the morning. You guys have fun!”

The night drew to a close not long after Willie and Alex departed, the remaining group stumbling towards the dorms, each of them singing loudly and slightly off key.

“I love you guys.” Reggie grins as he leans against the wall outside his door, “Like, really love you. You’re my real family.”

“We love you too bro.” Luke pulls him into a hug and pats him on the back, “Now get to bed, you’re getting soppy.”

“Yeah, leave me to deal with him.” Bobby rolls his eyes, “Don’t even think about trying to cuddle me.” he warns.

Luke throws his arm around the girls shoulder as they head back to their own room, neither of them doing a good job at keeping the other walking in a straight line. They stumbled into the walls and doors, both of them shushing each other obnoxiously loud as they giggled. Finally back in their room they both collapse onto their backs on Luke’s bed, their laughter slowly fading away until the room is cloaked in silence.

“Reggie’s right.” Julie comments.

“About the chickens? I don’t know, I don’t think they can really-” Julie cuts him off with a laugh.

“No! About us, our group. We’re a family, and I love it.” she sighs.

Luke’s mouth forms a small ‘O’ shape before he nods in agreement, “Yeah, couldn’t ask for a better family.” he agrees, reaching down and taking her hand in his, the alcohol dampening the nerves he usually feels around her.

She squeezes his hand, laying her head against his shoulder where she soon fell asleep, leaving him alone to sober up with his thoughts. Would it be such a bad thing if he told her? He played it out in his head. Imagining if she did feel the same. He could tell her, she’d kiss him, they’d go on dates and meet each other’s families. They’d fall stupidly in love and have the best time of their lives. He liked the sound of that. But he couldn’t stop the tiny pessimistic side of him from rearing its ugly head. Because she could not like him back. Or everything could go exactly how he wanted but something could happen. He could do something stupid like he was known for, resulting in Julie having a broken heart. He couldn’t bear that. Then they would fall out, and it would be awkward, because they share a room. They would have to see each other every day and he would be awkward and she would be bitter. They’d end up arguing a lot, and eventually hating each other. Never seeing each other again once college finished. Maybe she’d even move out of the room completely. He gulped at the thoughts.

No, definitely best not to say anything.

The next morning Luke woke with a sore head, the hand that had been holding Julies now empty. He sits up onto his elbows with a groan, squinting his eyes as he looks around the room.

“He lives!” Julie cheers and Luke whines at the volume of her voice, “Sorry,” She laughs, “Not feeling great?”

“Something like that.” He mumbles rubbing the balls of his hands into his eyes.

“Well lucky for you I’ve taken the liberty of ordering food worthy or curing a hangover, I’ve just gotta go collect it.” She throws her bag over her shoulder as she heads to the door.

“I’ll come with you.” Luke says, sitting up with a grimace.

“Please don’t,” Julie holds a hand out to him, “You look like you might throw up if you move any more. I’ll be ten minutes.” She disappears out the door without another word and Luke flops back down onto his bed.

The day passed without any sickness from Luke, his hangover slowly feeling less painful as the evening drew in. Still feeling a bit groggy he was sure it would be gone by the morning, so he got an early night, falling asleep as soon as his head hit the pillows.

Except the next morning the grogginess didn’t disappear, if anything it had worsened. His head felt fuzzy and his throat was like sandpaper. He turned to look at Julie, his body aching at the small movement.

“Am I dying?” He asks croakily.

“You sure sound like it.” Julie replies, looking up from her book to look at him, “And look like it.” She quickly puts her book down and hurries over to him, the back of her hand meeting his forehead, “Luke, you’re burning up.”

“I feel like I’ve been hit by a train.” He groans, “A train on fire.”

Julie rolls her eyes, helping him to sit up and pushing up the cushion under his head, “It’s just the flu. I told you not to go out the other night without a jacket!” She slaps him on the arm earning a whimper from the boy, “Next time you’ll listen to me. I’m going to the store to stock up on food anyway, I’ll get some medicine and soup.”

“Soup.” Luke groans out.

“Yes, soup. And you will eat it.” She points at him in warning before grabbing her jacket off the hook, “And I’m going to wear this, so I don’t get ill like an idiot.”

“You’re so sweet to me.” He mumbles, pulling his blanket up around his neck, “Can I have reese’s?”

“Sick people don’t get peanut butter!” She calls as the door shuts behind her.

Luke stays cocooned in bed until Julie returns with supplies. Luke watches quietly as she unpacks everything, then she makes her way over to him with a bag of all sorts of medicines, Luke grimaces at it.

“Don’t pull that face.” She slaps at his hand, “If you would have listened to me you wouldn’t be in this situation. Now, I have day medicine and night medicine, to help you sleep.” She places the bottles on the side table, “Cough sweets, pain relief tablets, cold and flu tablets, tissues.” She pulls everything out as she speaks.

“Are you trying to overdose me?” Luke asks.

Julie rolls her eyes, opening the packet of cold and flu tablets, “No, I’m trying to make you better so you’re not dying for the whole holidays. That would be no fun for me.” She hands him two tablets and a bottle of water. “You can take these up to four times a day, the day medicine twice and the night medicine before bed.”

Luke pouts at her as he swallows the tablets, “But I don’t want any of that.”

“Tough, I’m making you soup.” She hops off his bed and grabs the can of soup, readying it in the microwave for him.

Luke eats the soup, no matter how much he doesn’t want to. It leaves a funny taste in his mouth and he eats one of the cough sweets just to get rid of it. Julie chooses a christmas movie for them to watch, making sure the volume is on low so it doesn’t hurt his head.

“Can you sit with me?” Luke asks from under his pile of blankets, unsure as to why he had asked and feeling a little embarrassed that he did.

Julie pauses in her stride for a moment before changing direction to his bed, she sits beside him on top of the covers, letting him rest his head against her arm, “If I get ill I’ll kill you.” She warns jokingly.

“I promise not to get you ill.” he replies, knowing full well he has no control over it at all.

Julie spent the next couple of days caring for the boy, giving him medicine, making him food and keeping him comfy in bed. She estimated that it should take around three days for him to start feeling normal again with all the medicine she was giving him. So on the third night she gave him what she hoped would be his last dose of night medicine and tucked the blankets under his chin.

“I’m not even tired.” He complains, the blanket muffling his voice as he pulled it half over his face.

“Well you will be when that kicks in, we have this argument every night.” Julie sighs with an eye roll as she screws the cap back on.

“But I want to stay up with you.” He complains again.

“You can, tomorrow night when you’re hopefully feeling better.” He moves to get up from his bed but he reaches out and grabs onto her wrist.

“Can you at least sit with me?” He pouts up at her.

She laughs at him, perching back on the edge of his bed, “You’re so needy when you’re ill, it’s kinda cute.”

Luke frowns up at her, wanting to be called anything but cute by the girl he liked. “I’m not cute.” He argues.

The medicine already having the desired effect at making him drowsy, but he tried to fight it in order to spend more time talking with Julie. He tugs on her arm until she’s laying next to him, his fingers moving down to hers and wrapping them together, he’s pleased when she doesn’t move away from him.

“I’m glad you stayed back.” He mumbles, watching as his fingers fiddled with hers, “It’s selfish but I like your company.”

Julie smiles lightly, “I like your company too Luke.”

Luke smiles, a little lopsided in his dozy state, “I really like your company.”

“Well I really like your company too,” Julie laughs, “It’s not a competition.”

Luke shakes his head, burying his face into his pillows, “You don’t get it.” He mumbles out, Julie frowning as she strains her ears to hear what he’s saying, “I really like your company.”

“Yes Luke, you just said that.” She chuckles, “You don’t know what you’re talking about and you’re not making any sense, time for sleep.”

“No!” Luke complains, grabbing her hand tighter as she tries to get up, “You’re not listening to me!” He whines.

“I am listening to me! You said you really like my company! Twice!” She laughs.

Luke lets out a dramatic sigh, letting his head drop down onto the pillows again, “Forget it. You don’t care, you’re just laughing at me.” he mutters with a pout.

Julie sighs, feeling a little bad but knowing he was only acting this way because of the medicine, the boy probably had no idea what he was even saying.

“Okay,” She sighs, “Go ahead, what do you want to say.”

Luke sighs, chewing on his lower lip as he peeks up at her, she nods for him to go on, “She’s amazing,” He whispers, “Too amazing for me. She deserves the world, I could never give her that, but I wish I could.She means so much to me and I love her.” He mumbles, face half buried in his pillows as he lets his eyes drift shut, Julie had to wonder who he was talking about now, “I’m in love with Julie.” he adds in his half asleep state before finally letting the dreamland take him.

Julie’s mouth gapes open, eyes wide slightly as she stares down at the boy gripping onto her hand. She shakes her head, pushing the hope deep down inside of her. He’s off his face on flu drugs, he has no idea what he’s talking about. Hell he didn’t even realise it was her sitting next to him, he didn’t mean what he said. But part of her wished he did. She gives his hand one last squeeze before untangling herself and climbing into her own bed, ready for a night of restless fidgeting as she played what Luke had said over and over again in her head.

By the time morning came Julie was certain she’d gotten no more than two hours of sleep. Luke was sitting up in bed, scrolling on his phone when she turned to face him.

“Hey, you’re up!” Luke grins, his smile dropping slightly at her disheveled appearance, “Oh no, you’re not sick are you?”

“No, no,” Julie shakes her head, “I just didn’t sleep very well.” She sits up with a yawn and a stretch, “You seem to be feeling better.”

Luke nods his head, “So much better. I feel human again. Thank you for taking care of me,” He bites his lower lip and looks down at his covers, “I’m sorry I get a little much when I‘m sick.”

Julie laughs softly, a little disappointed that he hasn’t mentioned the night before, clearly he didn’t remember anything at all, “It’s fine. I didn’t mind.”

“Well you gotta let me make it up to you.” He says, pushing his covers away so he could climb out of bed.

Julie quickly shakes her head, “No, really, there’s no need.”

“I want to. You’ve spent the last three days looking after me, it’s the least I can do.” He argues.

“Well, it’s been snowing outside. And you’re still probably not one hundred percent, you probably shouldn’t go anywhere.” Julie tells him, always the voice of reason.

She also didn’t like the idea of going somewhere with Luke right now, his words from the night before still swimming in her head. If they did anything that even resembled a date she might break and say something she regrets. Like how much she’s in love with him and how he’s all she can ever think about.

“I guess you’re right…Okay then, we’ll order pizza, on me, and we can watch a movie? Not really an amazing thank you but, it’s a start?” He offers.

Julie sighs, the look on his face one of hope which she couldn’t say no to. Besides, they were stuck in the same room, it wasn’t like she could avoid him. She agrees, and his grin is wide enough to force one out of her as well.

So that evening they sit on their beds, stuffing their faces with pizza and garlic bread as they watch awful christmas movies and laugh over how bad they are. The previous night pushed into the back of her mind for the first time that day until Luke spoke up, his serious tone enough to pull her eyes from the movie and over to him.

“Hey, Julie?” He asks, as she looks at him his eyes are focused down on his pizza, “So…I wasn’t going to bring this up, but it’s been bugging me all day. Did I, uh,” He chuckles nervously, “Did I…Say some things last night?”

Julie looks at him in shock, sure he had completely forgotten. Her silence answers his question and his face turns a deep red, “Oh, god.” He groans, “I’m so sorry. I never meant to say that stuff, the medicine just…I’m so sorry. Please don’t feel awkward, can we just forget about it?”

Julie offers him a small smile, her shoulders deflating a little at his words, “Of course. It’s completely forgotten.” She forces a smile onto her face, “No awkwardness.”

Luke frowns over at her, in the months he had known the girl he had gotten to know how she worked and he could tell the smile taking over her face wasn’t genuine, “What’s wrong?” He asks.

“Huh? Nothing! Nothing’s wrong! Why would something be wrong?” Julie asks, shoving a bite of pizza into her mouth.

Luke raises his eyebrows at her, “Because I know you too well, what’s wrong?”

Julie looks over at him, the pizza half way back to her mouth again, she lets out a sigh and drops it back into the box, wiping her hands on a napkin, “Can we just forget about it?”

“Absolutely not. C’mon, tell me, I don’t like seeing you sad.” Luke prods her to talk to him.

Julie sighs again, contemplating if she should just lie to him, but the look of a kicked puppy on his face was too much for her. She caved.

“I guess, a part of me just kind of hoped you meant those things.” She shrugs looking anywhere but the boy in front of her, “I mean I know you would never, but hearing you say that…I guess I just got my hopes up.”

When she’s met with silence she looks up, eyes meeting Luke’s which held a look of shock, “Now can we forget I said that? Y’know what, we should just forget everything about this night. Maybe we should just start again? Get back into bed and pretend it’s morning!” She laughs nervously as the boy continues to stare at her, “Luke,” She whines, “Please say something so I know you don’t hate me.”

Finally Luke smiles, shoving his pizza box to the side and launching off his bed. Julie barely has time to comprehend that he had moved when his lips landed on hers, forceful but sweet, the taste of pizza and garlic between them. She moves her hands to rest on his chest, one of his supporting himself on the bed, the other holding her face. The kiss is slow and much too short for Julie’s liking, she stares wide eyed at the boy when he pulls away.

“I did mean it. Every word of it and I’ll say it every day if I can. You’re amazing, and I love you more than anything. You’re the best person to come into my life and I never want to be without you. Julie, I’m crazy in love with you and it’s not going away.” He breaths out.

Julie’s mouth forms a grin and she jumps up, throwing her arms around his neck and pulling him into a deep kiss as he wraps his arms around her waist. They stay locked together, lips moving in perfect sync until the stop for breath.

“You have no idea how much I’ve wanted to hear that.” Julie comments.

“I think I can take a guess.” Luke grins back, pulling her against his chest and placing a short sweet kiss to her lips before hugging her tight, “Am I still drowsy from drugs or is this really happening?”

Julie laughs against his chest, “I don’t know, let me pinch you to see if you’re dreaming.” She pinches his side and he jumps back quickly.

“Ow!” He complains and Julie just laughs.

“Definitely not dreaming.” She concludes, tiptoeing up to kiss him again, “That is something I will never get bored of.”

“You can say that again.” Luke agrees, grabbing her around the waist and falling back onto his bed with her as she squeals.

Of course a tiny part of Luke was still worried about anything going wrong, him being a notorious fuck up meant he would try his best to never do anything to harm this relationship. But the bigger part of him was so incredibly happy he could hardly contain it. The smile on his lips he was sure would be present for days, weeks even. He got the girl, the amazing, talented, sweet and caring girl. And he had no plans on ever letting her go.

They spent Christmas wrapped up together in blankets, doing nothing but talking, kissing and enjoying each other’s company. Luke had never felt so happy and content on Christmas before, the girl in his arms the best present he could have hoped for this year and any year to come. When it finally came time for Julie to go home for new years she convinced Luke to come with her. Not that he took much persuading, a few kisses and puppy dog eyes and he cracked like porcelain and agreed.

Luke was glad she had forced him to go home with her, because her home was exactly that. A home. It was warm and cosy and he felt instantly welcome. Her little brother loved having him there, calling him the big brother he never had and showing him everything he got for christmas. Luke ended up playing with his cars and robot figures for hours and loving every second. He’d never had a younger sibling before, he now realised how much he had missed out on and was happy he and Carlos could both have the siblings that they had always wanted in each other.

Her dad was more than happy to have him there. He couldn’t stop thanking him for making his little girl happy and Luke couldn’t stop replying telling him how amazing she was. He felt like he was at home, a real home where he belonged. Ray invited him back for every break, Christmas especially, and he quickly accepted. His arm tight around Julie’s shoulder, his lips pressing a kiss to her hairline.

“You’re amazing.” He whispers to her.

She looks up at him, smiling wide and leaning up to press a quick kiss to his lips, “You’re amazing. Welcome to the family.”


End file.
